Makale

This won´t happen forever - dominant Nadal reflects on latest success

Rafael Nadal is trying to enjoy the moment after winning an 11th Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday.

The Spaniard beat Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2 to breeze to the title and retain his place as world number one, having now won his last 36 sets on clay - a career best.

Despite this form, though, 31-year-old Nadal is aware that he must make the most of his successes while he can having suffered with injury problems over the past few years.

"These kind of things are not going to happen forever," he said. "I just try to enjoy it and to play full of passion and full of energy and concentration, full of love for the sport for as long as I can.

"I know the day to say goodbye is closer than it was 10 years ago. It is something that I am not worried about, but is a real thing. [This] is a special day for me."

Assessing his performance against Nishikori, Nadal added: "I played a solid match, although, of course, the best match of the week was against Dominic [Thiem] in the quarter-finals.

"But [on Sunday] I improved from [Saturday], in my opinion. I played a little better. I can't complain about much: winning an important title, playing against difficult opponents without losing a set, it's a great week."